© Copyright 2007 Sapient Corporation |1 Managing Distributed Teams and Projects Dr. Christian...

© Copyright 2007 Sapient Corporation | 1

Managing Distributed Teams and Projects

Dr. Christian OversohlVice President, Europe Lead

June 29th 2007, St. Petersburg

© Copyright 2007 Sapient Corporation | Confidential 2

Agenda

» The Distributed Delivery Challenge

» Setting up for success – bridging continents and cultures

» Summary

» Introduction to Sapient


September 2003

The Distributed Delivery Challenge


The Reality: IT projects present specific challenges*

What makes a project successful?An IT project is successful if it

» Is delivered within the given time frame

» Stays within the approved budget

» Reaches the business goals

» And at the end meets the clients expectations

*Source: "The Chaos Chronicles," The Standish Group, 2006

35%

46%

19%

Within plan

With problems

Cancelled

Within time and budget

Average budget overrun of 43%

Average time overrun of 82%

Project delivers on average only 42% of planned functionality

Project cancelled


Why Projects fail?

Technology initiatives fail for a common set of reasons:

» Lack of executive support

» Lack of clear business objectives

» Lack of experienced project management

» Lack of processes and methodology

» Poor scope management

» Lack of user involvement

Typical approaches to offshoring do not address these reasons for failure

In fact, offshoring can make these materially worse


Additional Challenges in Offshoring and Distributed Teams

» Alignment to the client’s objectives

» User and client management

» Communications with client and within project team

» Common team vision

» Cultural differences

» Industry and business expertise

Perceived cost advantages often make companies negate the challenges in offshoring

– but are they looking at the right costs?


Direct costs

(Labor costsoff-/onshore,

Software, Hardware)

Hidden Costs (management

overhead, coordination,

business support)

Opportunity costs/Economic value loss due

to delayed/ incomplete business outcomes

Overrun Costs (Labor costs

and other costs due to project

delay)

Offshore projects need to focus on the "Real Cost of Ownership"

Traditional view

of

"cost of ownership"

The "Real Cost of Ownership" is the basis for selecting

the right offshore partner and right approach


Offshoring project work is not a silver bullet….

….but doing it the right way can add significant valueto all participants


September 2003

Setting up for success – bridging continents and cultures


The Sapient Global Distributed Delivery (GDD) Model ensures smooth bridging of continents and cultures in delivering projects

» Key activities such as design and testing are done in Europe making sure that we are delivering the right solution and eliminating the typical issues that arise from "throw the spec over the wall" approach.

» A local Sapient team is still key to ensuring that decisions during the project are communicated to the India team and that Client stakeholders are involved in project decisions.

» All project processes, methodologies and tools are the same in all locations.

» The key project members like project managers, architects and track leads share responsibilities across locations; ensuring a true "one ownership" culture.


Local Offshore

Sapient teams are globally distributed with a distinct breakdown of responsibilities

Client Offshore Partner

» Local account team serves as single point of contact to client

» Project oversight in India ensures a quality, on-time delivery


Clear business objectives and executive support are key success factors

» Crystallize the business objectives with executive involvement

» Engage key stakeholders throughout the lifecycle to get to the right answers

» Understand how to get things done in the client’s environment

» Encourage client visits across geographies for continued executive support and alignment

The key is to ensure the stakeholders do not feel any difference or loss of control


Experienced Project Management is required across all geographies

» Use the appropriate methodology to avoid delivery risks

» Build effective risk management strategies

» Plan for change in requirements that are critical for the client’s business

» Ramp up the team on the business problem and not just technical solution


A united team and common methodology are the basis for success

» Collaboration through common tools & processes that are used during different phases

» Move critical team members across locations

» German language trainings

» Cross cultural trainings in all geographies, e.g. India and Germany

Bridging the different cultures by building transparency and understanding is critical…..


Things that seem "natural" to us are in fact learned patterns of behavior

» For example, e.g. eating with a knife and fork seems natural, but

• Only eating itself is "natural".

• Eating with knife and fork is "cultural"

• Also, belching and all body noises is "natural", but in our culture we consider it impolite and unnaturally restrain ourselves from doing so

Whatever is cultural is taken for granted within a givenculture. When interacting with someone from anotherculture, we will quickly perceive them as "impolite",

"a bit strange", "not too bright" etc.


Cultural difference and its presence in the work environment are important to take into account

Communication

Working styles

Lifestyle


Germans are typically less hierarchial and competitive as compared to their Indian collegues

» Decision making process• There is less hierarchical behavior bet-

ween people within the German office• Decisions are quick and pragmatic, but

built on consensus

» Working excessively long hours tends to be less• Life stage is asking a lot of Germans to

balance work and family life• Balanced life style has a stronger priority

in Germany – Sports / Socializing outside of Sapient

» Germans love meetings which are orderly and efficient and usually follow a tight schedule.

» Having Fun / Celebrating / Team Cheers• Beer garden, "Kicker"• The "lack of" team cheers in German

teams

» Decision making process• There is a more natural inclination towards

hierarchy• Limited push-back towards seniors

» Working Late - fact of life in the India office• Fixed project deadlines• People tend to start later • Many people are far from their families and

don‘t have much to go home to• Staying late helps beat rush-hour traffic

» A large population creates highly competitive environment• Opportunity vs. Population mismatch, hence

people have a very competitive attitude

» Limited exposure to ambiguous environments• Raising issues rather than solutions


Communicating in a foreign language is an additional challenge for all team members

» English is not the mother tongue

» More straight forward in communication

» Germans feel on average more comfortable in talking to a wider audience

» Trend towards longer discussions before taking decisions

» Germany can, after a certain amount of discussion easily say "yes" and / or "no" and stick with the decision

» English is not the mother tongue

» Exaggerated accents might prove difficult to understand

» Ability to talk to a large audience is sometimes limited

» Remaining silent might be a way of saying "no" that is considered more polite. This is an approach towards avoiding conflict


Lifestyle means different things in every geography

» Food• Not really used to spicy Indian cuisine –

usually endorses stomach upsets

• Being vegetarian is a growing trend in Germany

» Food• Money and cuisine preferences will make

self-cooking a choice. While in Germany, people would like to cook Indian rather than dine out

• Many Indians are vegetarians. Eating beef as this is a taboo for Hindus. Muslims will not eat pork

» Socializing• Germans take a while to talk about their

families and personal lives • Might be less comfortable in mingling with

the community and would rather stay within their own language group.

• Like to go out for drinks and dinner, but also cook with friends

» Socializing• Talk about their families and personal lives

in first meetings

• Concept of "physical personal space" is different, e.g. the appropriate distance to stand from someone when talking to them

» Religious Background• Religion does not play a big role in

business life – most people will not even know or care what confession their peers have

» Religious Background• Despite the myths – India is not overly

spiritual, religious or fatalistic. There will be very little chance for finding religious sentiments within the office


Despite all differences - We are Sapient !!!

» To successfully work together, we need to acknowledge our backgrounds but realize our strong common denominator is the Sapient culture & core values

» Keep questioning your assumptions about the "right way" to communicate or doing things. Build trust and rapport. Keep an open mind!

» Look for solutions, rather than analyzing the reasons for the confusion.

» Listen actively and empathetically. Try to put yourself in the other person's shoes.

» Remember that cultural norms may not apply to the behaviour of any particular individual. We are all more complicated than any cultural norm could suggest.


September 2003

Summary


Checklist for managing distributed teams

» Building distributed delivery into your DNA

• A single customer-focused team, distributed globally

• "Do whatever it takes" attitude to make clients successful

» Ensure constant and consistant communication between all stakeholders. Overcommunicate rather than undercommunicate

» Introduce common tools and processes to be used and assure constant transparency of project status in all locations

» Foster an open environment that overcomes cultural barriers across geographies

» Culture based on shared values


September 2003

Introduction to Sapient


About us

We founded Sapient based on a single promise to our clients: to do whatever it takes to deliver the right business results, on time and on budget.

For over a decade, our teams have consistently delivered on this promise, achieving success at nearly three times the industry average.

» Headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, we work with the following industries in North America, Europe and India:

• Automotive

• Communications

• Education

• Energy Services

• Financial Services

• Government

• Healthcare

• Retail and Consumer Products

• Technology

• Travel & Hospitality


Our core services – Consulting and Outsourcing

To improve our clients’ performance, we help them plan, create, and manage business-critical solutions enabled by technology to drive competitive advantage.

> Plan

We align business, customer, and technology goals to develop executable road maps thatimprove business performance.

> Create

We use our expertise in business processes, enabling technologies and applications, and user-centered design to create solutions that achieve measurable business results.

> Manage

We apply our expertise in business process, industry and technology to measure, extend and evolve existing systems, maximizing value from existing investments.

• Business and IT planning

• Business process consulting

• eBusiness & web strategy

• Enterprise architecture planning

• IT governance

• User research

• Business process redesign

• Data warehousing and business intelligence solutions

• Enterprise architecture and integration

• Industry-focused package and custom solutions

• Program management services

• Web solutions

• Application management

• Business application planning

• Operations management

• Sourcing analysis and strategy

• Value analysis and maximization

• Quality assurance & testing services

© Copyright 2007 Sapient Corporation |1 Managing Distributed Teams and Projects Dr. Christian...

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